Love Beat
by MegKF
Summary: An unexpected visit leads Kyoko on a quest where she discovers unexpected ties to people new and old in show business.
1. Chapter 1

_Skip Beat!_ belongs to Hakusensha (Japan) and Viz (USA). No copyright infringement is intended. Fanfiction is, in my opinion, free advertisement. There are many things I've bought because I enjoyed fanfiction that crossed into a new fandom. I encourage everyone to purchase these products.

**Love Beat – Chapter 1 (revised)**

Kyoko walked through the halls of LME, she was on Love Me time. She was almost done filming Dark Moon and would start filming her new drama in a couple of days. She was excited about showing another facet of her acting skills to move away a bit from always playing the bad guy. As she rounded the corner to her desk, Mr. Sawara spoke up from where he sat talking to a co-worker.

"Kyoko you have a guest, she insisted on waiting for you."

Kyoko looked at the woman standing next to her desk. Kyoko's arms went limp and she let go of the files in her arms as she gasped, "Mother."

"Hello Kyoko, we need to talk," she said stiffly.

Kyoko reached down and piled up all the papers she'd dropped and turned to Mr. Sawara and asked, "Is it okay if I take a couple of hours off?"

"Sure," he replied. He watched in concern as a pale Kyoko placed her work on her desk and turned to lead her mother away.

They walked in silence to the karaoke bar and reserved a private room. Kyoko had always found that this was a good place for private conversations.

"What do you want Mother? I haven't seen you in years. I didn't think I'd ever see you again, since you don't care about me at all."

Saena paused for a moment, looked away from Kyoko for a moment before turning back, and spoke, "You were two when your father died. After that I couldn't bear to hold you Kyoko. Every time I did I was reminded of your father, of how he held you. You became a constant reminder of what I'd lost. I loved your father so much and when he died I realized you were his legacy. I wanted you to be as perfect as he was. … And believe me, he was perfect."

"I- I don't understand…"

"He would be so proud of you. I suppose I became blind-sided by trying to make you like him that I wasn't able to remember that he thought you were perfect as you were."

"Mother?"

"Even without knowing your father, you're following so closely in his footsteps. You even debuted in a remake of Tsukigomori. It's ironic since he was filming that when I met him."

"Mother!?"

"Kyoko, your father is, was, Hiroki Mogami."

"… Who?"

"The actor who played Katsuki's best friend Yuki in the original Tsukigomori. That's how I knew you were acting. I had to watch Dark Moon. He was a legend, he's still remembered fondly as one of the most gifted singers ever in Japan. Tsukigomori was his acting debut. They were filming scenes in Kyoto, near our home. I met him there, we fell in love. We could never tell the world about our relationship. He wanted to protect both of us from the paparazzi. He would have told everyone eventually, when you were older. But he died. … He left you almost everything, in trust for when you turn 20. It's quite a legacy now. I wasn't going to tell you everything until then, when I turned it all over to you, but this seemed fitting since you're in show biz now."

"I… I don't know what to say Mother," Kyoko watched her mother, as they both became lost in memories of the past.

"Here," Saena said as she reached into her purse and pulled out a disc. "It has home videos and video letters your father sent you when he was away. It even has copies of written letters we wrote each other. I had them all placed on DVD years ago."

Kyoko took the case from her mother and stared at it in her hands.

"Don't live in the past Kyoko, embrace the fond memories and go on with your life, like I couldn't. … For what it's worth, I won't interfere in your career at all. Live your life as you choose, like your father did." Saena left the room and Kyoko's life again.

**End – Chapter 1**

REVIEWS INSPIRE ME!!

I was planning this to be a one-shot but I think I'll write a couple more chapters of this! I was inspired by the Skip Beat anime to re-read the manga once again. You can watch the anime on youtube! I had to write this when the idea hit me. I suppose I still had Kyoko's dad on my mind after writing Stargate LME and I was re-reading the manga. I originally wrote this with Shuhei Hozu as Kyoko's father, having forgotten/not known that it was Ren's father's stage name. I'm making up the name of Kyoko's Dad and the character name from Dark Moon. I'm assuming that the other young actor in Dark Moon was playing Katsuki's friend.


	2. Chapter 2

_Skip Beat!_ belongs to Hakusensha (Japan) and Viz (USA). No copyright infringement is intended. Fanfiction is, in my opinion, free advertisement. There are many things I've bought because I enjoyed fanfiction that crossed into a new fandom. I encourage everyone to purchase these products.

Quick Note: I changed chapter 1 slightly, Kyoko's father is now named Hiroki Mogami, and he made his acting debut in Tsukigomori. He was well known as a singer.

**Love Beat – Chapter 2**

Kyoko returned to work soon after her mother had left the room. She got to finishing filing and the like while never forgetting that she had that disc sitting on her desk waiting for her to finish for the day. The day passed in a daze for Kyoko, sometimes it was like that with her so no one but Mr. Sawara was worried about it. He wasn't sure how to ask her what was wrong so he remained silent on the issue unless she asked to speak to him about. It wasn't until they were both done for the day that she spoke to him.

"Mr. Sawara?" he voice hesitant as if unsure of what to say.

"Yes?" he replied cautiously.

"Can I borrow one of the portable DVD players tonight? I'll return it first thing in the morning!!! I promise!"

"Alright," he really wasn't sure why it was so important to her, but knew she would return it the next day as promised.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she called out as she carried the player into her home, Mr. Sawara dropped her off on his way home. The two of them didn't often get off at the same time, so it was his first time seeing where she lived.

Kyoko rushed to her room, set up the player, and placed the disc in it. A disc menu popped up giving several options. Kyoko, not knowing what on the disc, selected chronological order. On the screen appeared a young Saena and a young man that must have been Kyoko's father. The footage was obviously done by hand, so someone else was there filming it. Kyoko watched surprised as happy expressions appeared on her mother's face. Kyoko had never seen her mother smile or laugh before. She watched for several minutes as her parents played around in a room that Kyoko had never seen before. Kyoko straighten up as she noticed that the background out the window appeared to be of Tokyo. Suddenly her father turned to the camera.

"Miki, put down the camera so we can play a game together."

"Hai, Oniisan(1)," came the voice from behind the camera. There was a clatter as it was put down and another face appeared in the front of the camera as 'Miki' joined Hiroki and Saena at a table where Saena was placing a board game. Several minutes were spent just setting up the game. Kyoko watched them act like a real family, something she felt she'd missed growing up. Kyoko let the conversation flow over her until the camera apparently ran out of power or film and ended.

She had a new quest, Kyoko decided, as she removed the disc and placed it back in its case. Kyoko had to find Miki Mogami.

**End – Chapter 2**

REVIEWS INSPIRE ME!!!

Note (1): Yes, older brother.

I couldn't get this story out of my head since Monday... Somehow it's all stuff from several chapters down the road that I'm thinking about. I think I'm weird that the chapters I'm writing are to connect what I have to what I have planned. I'm thinking it won't get to the way I'm hoping it will…

This is a short chapter, hopefully I'll update this faster, but I'm actually working on 4 stories at a time, which I promised myself I wouldn't, so this story might get short chapters so I can update all my stories as quickly as I can. Thankfully two of my stories are almost done… I can't believe I was planning on this being a one-shot. This might end up being one of my longest stories…


	3. Chapter 3

_Skip Beat!_ belongs to Hakusensha (Japan) and Viz (USA). No copyright infringement is intended. Fanfiction is, in my opinion, free advertisement. There are many things I've bought because I enjoyed fanfiction that crossed into a new fandom. I encourage everyone to purchase these products.

**Love Beat – Chapter 3**

Kyoko sighed, unsure of how to locate her aunt. Plus she'd committed herself to the "Happy Grateful" part. She just wanted Maria to be happy on her birthday. She might have to postpone locating her aunt until she had more time and gone through more of the DVD her mother had given her. As Kyoko sped through the Love Me work she thought through her attempts to locate Miki Mogami.

Attempt #1: Phone Book FAILURE

Attempt #2: Calling information FAILURE

Attempt #3: Internet Search FAILURE

Attempt #4: Going through the Newspaper Archive to see if she'd gotten married FAILURE

Mr. Sawara, who had been concerned about Kyoko since the recent visit from her mother heard Kyoko as she, once again, sighed deeply. He chose to interrupt her thoughts with a question.

"What's w- Can I help you with something?"

Kyoko replied without thinking, "Only if you can tell me how to find Miki Mogami."

"You mean Miki Gami?" Mr. Sawara asked, worried that Kyoko had picked up Kanae Konami's habit of saying 'Mo.' "Does the singing section have you running an errand for her? I can't believe they didn't give you an address. Let me look it up in the system and I'll call her to her know you're on the way. She's almost as legendary as Ren Tsuruga for her promptness." He printed out the address for her and pushed her out the door into the LME hallway without giving her time to respond.

Before she knew it Kyoko was outside LME holding onto the address with only one word running through her head, "Huh?"

***

Kyoko stood outside a large apartment building, very nervous. She had to go in and apologize to the nice singer who had accidentally been told that she, Kyoko Mogami, had business with her. Just because she'd been compared to Ren Tsuruga doesn't mean she'll react just like him

Kyoko's mind: A woman is in front of her speaking with a lady-like smile saying, "You came here wasting both our time-"

Kyoko shook her head refusing to continue with the thought. She was terrified by the time she reached the door to ring the bell. RING

"Coming!" called out a cheerful voice. Kyoko shuddered worried that her vision was coming true. The door opened and standing there was Miki Gami. Looking almost exactly the same as the woman in the video Kyoko had watched the other day. She wasn't a teenager anymore and her hair had changed but this was definitely her aunt.

"Kyoko! I was surprised to hear from Mr. Sawara that you were coming by! I'm so happy," was said as Miki dragged Kyoko into her apartment and into a hug.

**End – Chapter 3**

REVIEWS INSPIRE ME!!!


	4. Chapter 4

_Skip Beat!_ belongs to Hakusensha (Japan) and Viz (USA). No copyright infringement is intended. Fanfiction is, in my opinion, free advertisement. There are many things I've bought because I enjoyed fanfiction that crossed into a new fandom. I encourage everyone to purchase these products.

**Love Beat – Chapter 4**

Kyoko found herself sitting on a couch in Miki Gami's apartment. She watched as her host prepared tea while babbling. Kyoko couldn't even consider what Miki was saying to be useful since it was mostly about how happy she was that Kyoko had finally come to see her. Soon Miki finished making the tea and sat down next to Kyoko on the couch. Kyoko took the cup offered to her without really realizing it.

"I'm so happy to see you Kyoko! I haven't seen you since your father's funeral."

"Why?" asked Kyoko, her forehead scrunching up a bit in confusion. This had been the first new information Miki had offered and something Kyoko wanted to know. After all, Miki seemed to want to share her love with Kyoko and Kyoko had wanted to be loved like that as she grew up.

"Your mother forbid it. She didn't want any reminders of your father around. At least that's what I think her excuse was. I tried to talk her out of it, but I'm pretty sure she made sure all attempts of mine to contact you failed. I did find a way around that though. I kept in contact a maid at the Fuwa hotel, she kept me up to date with as much as she could. You seemed happy so I didn't interfere. I wasn't the only one she forbid to see you, you know. She wouldn't let your godfather come to see you either, although he was a lot busier than me, working overseas a lot of the time in America. When he came to visit you when you were, I think, 7 years old, he tried to convince her to let me see you, but she wouldn't even let him see you."

"Godfather?" Kyoko asked as her eyes seemed to widen just a bit with each fact she learned.

"Yes, of course. I'm your godmother and Kuu Hizuri is your godfather. … You didn't know?"

"What!? Father is my godfather? He didn't mention that! … In fact he said he wasn't my godfather!"

"You saw Kuu while he was in Tokyo?"

"Yes!" Kyoko yelled jumping up. She began pacing, trying to figure out what was going on.

"I didn't get to see him, although we did speak a couple of times on the phone. Julia did say that they seem to have gotten a second child while he was here though. Was that you?"

"I guess so…" Kyoko muttered as returned to her seat. "Who's Julia?"

"Julia is his wife, she couldn't come to Japan with him, although she really wanted to…"

"I don't understand, if he's my godfather wht didn't he tell me, why did he even say he wasn't?"

"He might not have realized it was you Kyoko. He hadn't seen you almost 15 years."

"But my name-"

"We didn't call you Kyoko as a child," Miki interrupted. "Your father and I had both shortened our names to make our own stage names. I was Miki Gami and he was Hiro Gami, and we called you Kyo Gami. I suppose if you'd known you might have used that as your own stage name instead of just dropping your surname."

"Oh… That sounds really boyish…"

Miki giggled softly at that. "If you like we can call Kuu and let him know it's you. He's supposed to be at him home for a couple of days before going to film on location for one of his next movies."

"I'd like that," Kyoko said with a beautiful smile appearing on her face. The one that usually only appears when she's thinking about Corn. Kyoko's smile faded as she tilted her head to the side in thought as a question popped into her head. "Why is he my godfather?"

"Why don't you ask him that story on the phone. He loves telling it. I've heard it a hundred times and it still makes me smile."

**End – Chapter 4**

REVIEWS INSPIRE ME!!!

Sorry it's been awhile since I updated… I just wasn't feeling up to writing. When something happens in my life I get distracted and don't feel like writing for awhile. But I haven't forgotten about any of my stories and I've got most of this story planned out. I think this might end up my longest story ever, which is weird since I was originally planning this to be a one-shot. I hope you all like what I'm planning.

Can someone suggest a better summary for this story? I'm planning on adding several chapters which will include some of the stuff happening in the manga. I am planning to eventually make this a romantic drama...

I think Kyoko calls Kuu 'Father' in English, while wanting to call him Otosan which is Japanese for 'Father.'

Surname is fancier way of saying family name.


	5. Chapter 5

_Skip Beat!_ belongs to Hakusensha (Japan) and Viz (USA). No copyright infringement is intended. Fanfiction is, in my opinion, free advertisement. There are many things I've bought because I enjoyed fanfiction that crossed into a new fandom. I encourage everyone to purchase these products.

**Love Beat – Chapter 5**

Kyoko watched as Miki placed the international call on her speaker phone. As Kyoko sat there on the couch listening to the phone ring she began to worry about what this phone call would mean to her. She began to worry that Kuu had known who she was and didn't want her, just like her real mother didn't.

"Hello! Miki is that you?" came the voice on the other side of the phone. Kyoko frowned for a moment at the beautiful, very female, voice.

"Julia!" Miki exclaimed, "You sound so much better!"

"Yes! I'm so happy that Kuu was successful in his trip to Japan! I've been so worried. I was sure-"

"Actually Julia," Miki interrupted, "I need to talk to Kuu about the 'Child' he claimed as his own while he was visiting here. She's with me right now."

"Oh? … Oh! I was wondering why you were calling so early. It's almost 9 am here. I'll go get him."

Kyoko and Miki's eyes both flew to the clock on the phone as they heard Julia moving away from the phone. It read 3:58 pm.

Miki blushed as she confided to Kyoko, "I was so excited about seeing you I forgot about the time difference between Japan and California."

"Hello!" came Kuu's cheerful voice over the phone after a soft click was heard.

"Kuu put you on speaker so we could all talk at the same time," Julia shared softly.

"Kuu. Kyoko is here with me," Miki shared immediately.

"Kyoko! Hello," Kuu said.

"Father!" Kyoko called out loudly, suddenly upset. "Did you know?" she demanded.

"Know what?" Kuu asked confused.

"That Kyoko was our Kyoko," explained Miki. "That's she's our goddaughter."

"She is!?" Kuu called out shocked. "No Kyoko," he said softly, "I didn't know you were my Kyo. You grew up so well! I haven't seen you in years! Oh… Your okasan… This explains a lot…" his voice trailed off as events came together for him from things they'd discussed when he was in Japan.

Miki looked on as Kyoko started to close herself off. Knowing Kuu's silence was unintentionally hurting Kyoko she spoke up, "Kuu! Why don't you tell Kyoko how you ended up her godfather."

"Oh! It's been a long time since I told this story," Kuu's voice suddenly cheerful. "Kyoko, you know I'm from Kyoto right?"

"Yeah, the President mentioned it."

"Well I grew up in Kyoto and my best friend was Saena."

"My okasan?" Kyoko asked shocked. Somehow Kyoko couldn't imagine her okasan with friends…

"Yes. We were best friends, almost inseparable. She supported me in my dream of being an actor and encouraged me to go out for my first audition. She was the best. She was the maid of honor at my wedding to Julia."

"Yes, I have to confess I was worried she was romantically interested in him," Julia said. "I thought at first that she was and just hid it really well. She saw how I was feeling and told me she had had a crush on him many years before but it had changed as they grew older and their interested diverged and she really only loved him like a brother. After that we got along great."

"Then a couple of years later I met your otosan. I was working on Tsukigomori and he was playing my best friend. We hit it off and really did become good friends. When we were filming some scenes in Kyoto I introduced him to your okasan. They had an instant connection."

"You otosan couldn't stop talking about her," interjected Miki. "Saena this, Saena that. He was very much like a fool in love."

"Saena was the same way. She couldn't stop talking about him either. It wasn't any surprise to us they started dating. It wasn't even a year later that they got married. They kept it very low key not wanting to upset his fans."

"I got to be a bridesmaid at their wedding too. That's the last time I was in Japan," Julia shared.

"I was also a bridesmaid, they didn't want to pick between us so there wasn't an actual maid of honor at their wedding," Miki said softly. "It was filmed so if you want to see it we could watch it later."

"Kuon was ring bearer. He was so cute in his little tuxedo. He was only 2 years old then," Julia said suddenly. Kyoko didn't know this yet but Julia, like Kuu, could go on for ages about how wonderful their son is.

"You were born almost 9 months later to the day," Kuu shared not wanting to talk about Kuon worried Kyoko might figure out who he was.

"Your parents absolutely insisted on Kuu being your godfather and me being your godmother," Miki said with a smile.

"I didn't mind not being your godmother since I knew I would be part of your life. Although I suppose I didn't get to do that," Julia's frown could almost be heard as she spoke on.

"Julia-san?" Kyoko said hesitantly. "May I call you 'Mother'?"

"I'd be honored Kyoko!" Julia said suddenly happy again.

Kyoko had never imagined her okasan as an encouraging person. She'd always been so focused on everything being perfect that Kyoko had never seen the side of her okasan as told here. Kyoko wished she had known her otosan. Kyoko almost jumped as Miki wrapped an arm around Kyoko's shoulder pulling her into a small hug. Kyoko's face softened as she snuggled into her aunt's embrace.

**End – Chapter 5**

REVIEWS INSPIRE ME!!!

I hope I did the time change currectly… It's 17 hours between California and Japan in December right?

As you might be able to tell I've started to call Kyoko's real parents Okasan (Mother) and Otosan (Father). She'll be calling Kuu, Father, and Julia, Mother, in English from now on.


	6. Chapter 6

_Skip Beat!_ belongs to Hakusensha (Japan) and Viz (USA). No copyright infringement is intended. Fanfiction is, in my opinion, free advertisement. There are many things I've bought because I enjoyed fanfiction that crossed into a new fandom. I encourage everyone to purchase these products.

**Love Beat – Chapter 6**

Kyoko remained in the embrace of her aunt for several minutes. She ignored the sounds made while Miki and Julia spoke for a few moments on the phone. Kyoko jumped out of Miki's arms when she heard chimes in the background of the phone.

"It's just the clock chiming the hours in their home Kyoko," Miki said misunderstanding what was upsetting Kyoko.

"It's not that!" Kyoko explained hurriedly. "I've got to get back to work. I've got to be to my other job in half an hour!" It was the first time she'd be playing Bo since getting back from filming on location in Karuizawa so she couldn't be late.

"I'll drive you," Miki offered.

"No! No!" Kyoko called as she rushed to the door. "I've already imposed too much! Thank you so much Aunt Miki, Father, Mother. I have to hurry!"

"Come see me again soon!" Miki called out to her as she vanished around the corner. She heard what she hoped was a muffled affirmative. She returned to her seat and almost jumped with she heard Kuu speak out from the phone. She'd forgotten that it was still connected.

"She's so much like her otosan in some ways it's almost scary," Kuu chuckled softly. "Be careful Miki, I won't forgive you if you hurt her. Her okasan has made her more fragile than she appears."

"I would never hurt her Kuu. She's my niece and I've been waiting a long time to be part of her life again. Now that she knows about me I'm not letting go unless she asks."

"I doubt she would ask that," Kuu said. "She's like a diamond, you know. Even the president agrees. She'll be beautiful soon."

Miki smiled, "Perhaps I should help polish."

**End – Chapter 6**

REVIEWS INSPIRE ME!!!

Sorry it's so short. I've been working a lot on my other stories. One is almost done! The other's got nominated for awards at TtH (Buffy crossovers site). And I've got another story stuck in my head that I just have to write. Hopefully I'll write more of this soon. I've got many many chapters planned out in my head, it's all about typing them.


	7. Chapter 7

_Skip Beat!_ belongs to Hakusensha (Japan) and Viz (USA). No copyright infringement is intended. Fanfiction is, in my opinion, free advertisement. There are many things I've bought because I enjoyed fanfiction that crossed into a new fandom. I encourage everyone to purchase these products.

**Love Beat – Chapter 7**

Kyoko stood nervously in front of her aunt's door. She hadn't been back since she'd had to run to work the week before. She'd watched some more of the video clips on the DVD her okaasan had given her. She'd watched things like her parents wedding, she'd also seen Mother, Father and their son, age 3. She saw how happy her okaasan had been while her otosan was alive.

Kyoko took a deep breath and pressed the door bell.

DING DONG

A few seconds passed before the door opened to reveal Miki Gami. Miki's face went from passive to joyous in just a few moments. Kyoko almost took a step back, it was so much like Ren Tsuruga's smile that had killed more than a few Grudge Kyoko's in its presence.

"Kyoko!" Miki cried out happily. "I was so worried you weren't planning to come back. Come in!"

Kyoko blushed. She'd been unsure of how to return. She'd been avoiding Miki and the entire area she lived in until now. Kyoko followed Miki into her apartment and was surprised as she finally took in the surroundings that she'd mostly ignored during her only other visit. There was a large portrait hanging above the couch which Kyoko recognized as portrait of herself with her parents as a baby. Kyoko couldn't help staring at the adoration featured on her parents faces as they looked down at her baby self.

Kyoko walked over to look at it closer and realized that behind the couch way a narrow table that had numerous pictures in frames on display. She looked down and saw pictures of both sets of parents and Miki as well as some featuring her and Kuon as little children. There was one noticeable picture of Kuon, age 4 Kyoko guessed, holding her as a baby. She looked at each picture as Miki watched from a chair across from the couch. Kyoko froze as she caught sight of a collection of photos that weren't almost as old as her. Pictures of her from school, some of her with Sho, as well as a still shot of her from the Curara commercial.

"It's too bad you weren't on the Dark Moon poster. I would have had a copy framed if you were," Miki finally said speaking up.

Kyoko whirled around to stare at Miki. Kyoko felt conflicted for a moment as she realized that what Miki had done was something between stalking her and being the parent she'd wanted. Miki's obvious approval of her choices in life both flattered her and disturbed her since she wasn't the one to tell Miki. Kyoko allowed a small smile to form. Kyoko was happy that someone in her family cared enough to want to document her life in photos.

"There aren't many photos after Otosan died," Kyoko said softly before returning her gaze to the photos behind her.

"In a lot of ways my life stopped after he died," Miki said getting up and coming over to sit on the couch beside Kyoko. "I suppose it really isn't healthy to cling to the past. A lot of the stuff I did I only did because my brother was there by my side to help me. You see, I have very bad stage fright. I could never stand to be the center of attention among strangers. If he was there he was the center of attention. I adored that about him."

"But doesn't that get in the way of singing?" Kyoko asked confused.

"I'm not a singer," Miki said now also confused. "I mean I could have been. I've had offers, but the stage fright thing does get in the way."

"But I thought you were an LME singer. I thought that was why LME has your address."

Miki giggled. "No Kyoko. Actually I write music for LME. I've done some back up vocals in the past though. I've never actually done any solo performances. I was also in your otosan's band. I play several instruments and it's rare for the back-up band to get the main attention so I felt comfortable performing that way."

"You're a song writer?"

"Yes. In fact I've written several number 1 hits. Mr. Sawara probably thought you were coming to pick up music I'd written. That would explain what he said when he called to tell me you'd be late coming here last week."

"Oh."

A silence followed until Miki decided to break the silence, "Do you like any of the photos? I still have the negatives so I can't make you copies of anything you really like."

"Oh!" Kyoko said turning back to the photos before picking out her favorites. "These three." Kyoko handed them to her aunt who looked at them. One was a picture of all the adults, Kyoko's okasan, otosan, father, mother and Miki. One was a family portrait similar to the one hanging up, only Kyoko was a little older being held by her parents. And the last was the picture of her with Kuon.

"Good choices. This was the family portrait they had done when you turned 1. And these were both taken the last time we all got together before your otosan died." Miki gestured to the photo of the adults and the one of Kuon with baby Kyoko. "It was adorable the way Kuon looked over you. He spent the entire time watching over you, you both cried when they had to take Kuon back with them. It was so sweet, well now that we look back on it anyway. It was a big pain then, having to get you to let go of him."

"Oh. How did he die?"

"How did who die?"

"Kuon."

"Why would you think that Kuon died?"

"Father, he said that Kuon left."

"Ohhhh. No no! That's not how it was at all! Kuon ran away from home a few years ago. So I suppose it was like he was gone, just not the forever kind of gone. He said he'd be back when he wasn't in their shadows anymore. At least I think that's how it goes. Julia didn't tell me clearly, she was very upset then and I don't want to remind her about it so I don't ask for any details when we talk now. … Kuu wasn't much better."

"Then why don't you have any more pictures of Kuon after this? I mean the oldest picture of him here is at about 5 years old. You should have stuff until he was about 15, right?"

Miki hesitated for a moment, "You wouldn't believe me." There was no way she was ruining Ren's cover if she didn't have to. After he'd run away from home she'd removed all of his more current photos and stored them away for safe keeping. She'd known he'd join LME and she didn't want to risk any of the people coming to her apartment recognizing Kuon as Ren.

**End – Chapter 7**

REVIEWS INSPIRE ME!!!

It's been a little while since I updated this story. I'm currently working on 5 stories none of which are close to being done, so it's taking me awhile to update all my stories. I hope you all liked this chapter. We learn some more about Miki. Kuon and Kyoko knew each other when they were little!


	8. Chapter 8

_Skip Beat!_ belongs to Hakusensha (Japan) and Viz (USA). No copyright infringement is intended. Fanfiction is, in my opinion, free advertisement. There are many things I've bought because I enjoyed fanfiction that crossed into a new fandom. I encourage everyone to purchase these products.

**Love Beat – Chapter 8**

Kyoko smiled as she went to the Dark Moon shooting scheduled that day. She was happy and very nervous. She'd spent a lot of time talking about her family with her aunt the other day. They'd even sat down and watched a couple more videos from the disc her okaasan had given her. Then yesterday, while trying to figure out her new role she'd run into a very unhappy Maria. This was her chance to make Maria enjoy her birthday for the first time since her mother had died.

Kyoko became very nervous as she caught sight of Ren Tsuruga. He was the most important person she needed to invite. Maria would be so happy if he came. Kyoko reached into her pocket and fingered the invitations that had been rush printed. Kyoko went through asking Ren to go to the party, and he, with his manager's help, subtly tried to get her to admit she'd like him to be there too, that it wasn't just for Maria. It failed, of course, since Kyoko is totally oblivious.

As Kyoko reached into her pocket for additional invitations to give to other people on the Dark Moon set she pulled out too many and they went flying. Ren and Yashiro each bent down to help Kyoko pick up the invitations before they could get ruined or lost. Ren froze as he picked up a picture that had fallen out with the invitations. Yashiro also froze as he picked up a picture too. Kyoko, having seen the photo she picked up before didn't freeze.

Yashiro looked at Kyoko confused, "Isn't this Kuu Hizuri? And these other people look familiar too…"

"What?" asked Ren snapping out of it to look over at the picture in Yashiro's hands.

"Yeah," Kyoko said, a smile forming on her face. "Turns out he's my godfather!"

"What?" asked Ren and Yashiro in unison. Ren was shocked, he had had no idea that his father was anything at all to Kyoko prior to his recent visit.

"Yep! Turns out he was childhood friends with my okaasan. That's her there." Kyoko pointed her out on the picture.

"She's the only one in the picture that doesn't look familiar," Yashiro commented.

"Yeah… That's my Otosan, Hiro Gami, he was in the original Tsukigomori, that's my aunt Miki Gami, she's a song writer at LME and that's Father's wife, Julia, she's a supermodel."

"Oh," Yashiro said numb in shock.

"Promise you won't tell anyone. I just found out and I don't want people thinking my success right now is because of them," Kyoko said nervously. She didn't want any rumors started.

"Of course not," Yashiro said immediately.

Ren simply nodded in agreement.

"What do you have?" Yashiro asked realizing that Ren was holding onto a picture as well.

As Kyoko took the picture from Yashiro she looked over at Ren's picture, knowing what was in it. "That's me with Kuon Hizuri, Kuu's son. My aunt gave me her copies of my favorite pictures since she can make new copies for herself. That one is my favorite. She said that even though I hardly spent any time with Kuon because he was always traveling with his parents that it was amazing the tie we had together. Said it was like we were tied together with thread."

"Oh?" Ren said staring intently on her. He didn't remember ever meeting her before that summer in Kyoto.

"Yes! Whenever we saw each other we'd refuse to be parted. She it was the only time I threw tantrums as a child. She said Kuon was the same way. If we were separated he'd cry too. She said she thinks he would have been happier later in life if Okaasan had agreed to give custody of me over to his father when he tried. In fact, I think that was the last time he came to Japan for more than a couple of days was when he was trying to convince her. I think that was about 10 years ago."

Ren's eyes widened for a moment in shock as he realized that the reason he'd met Kyoko that summer was because his father had come for her. He paused for a moment to wonder what their relationship would have been like if she'd been in his life for those years. He handed the picture over to her as he saw her catch sight of Ogata, obviously anxious to invite him to the party too.

**End – Chapter 8**

REVIEWS INSPIRE ME!!!

I'm trying to follow the manga… So hopefully this matches up close enough. YAY! Ren makes an appearance! I'm a Ren X Kyoko fan and I'm planning for this story to eventually become such a tale. Though I am planning to throw Sho into the mix eventually too.

I'm probably messing up the info about the silk thread thing. It's a belief in Japan that certain people are tied together with thread… One such thread belongs to soulmates!


	9. Chapter 9

_Skip Beat!_ belongs to Hakusensha (Japan) and Viz (USA). No copyright infringement is intended. Fanfiction is, in my opinion, free advertisement. There are many things I've bought because I enjoyed fanfiction that crossed into a new fandom. I encourage everyone to purchase these products.

**Love Beat – Chapter 9**

KNOCK KNOCK

Miki smiled as she went to answer the door. She was pretty happy, connecting with her niece. Though Kyoko had been so busy lately planning the party for Maria that she'd rarely seen her for the last several days. The door swung open and the greeting died on Miki's tongue. Standing in her doorway was not her niece but rather a much taller man.

"Kuon," she said softly moving to the side and gesturing for him to come in with a wide sweep of her arm. "I admit I thought I'd finally be seeing you soon, but somehow I thought it would be awhile still."

Ren entered the apartment, practically stalking in. He swerved around to glare at Miki as the door closed. "What were you thinking showing old pictures of me to Ms. Mogami?"

"That no one would recognize you?" Miki offered up softly. As his expression didn't change she rolled up her eyes. "Seriously no one will recognize you from those old photos. When Kuu told me you were coming to Japan to remake yourself I gathered up almost every photo I had of you, everything after you were about 10, and put them all into a box and put it under my bed. No one is going to recognize you as that child Kuon, not unless they already suspect."

"Fine," Ren said softly turning his head away. He was acting more like himself in Miki's presence. Not the gentleman everyone took him for here. This was why he had avoided Miki once he arrived in Japan. He'd known she could break through his 'Ren Tsuruga' mask if she tried. For all that he'd rarely seen her, she was still one of his mother's best friends and someone he'd talked to throughout his childhood. His mother enjoyed talking to her on speakerphone so he and or his father could join in. Truthfully it was probably why his spoken Japanese was so good.

"Would you like some tea?" Miki offered gently. She could tell this was going to be a longer conversation than she first thought.

"Sure," Ren said turning back to her with his gentlemanly smile on his face.

Miki rolled her eyes and swatted him gently on his shoulder. "You can be yourself here Kuon, so don't play the perfect gentleman with me."

Ren out a soft snort at that and let his persona relax a bit. He's missed her, and really, discovering she was Kyoko's aunt had finally given him the motivation to visit her. He followed her into the kitchen as she went about preparing tea for the two of them.

Miki took a moment to take in 'Ren' out of the corner of her eye as she set the water to boiling. Seeing he wasn't planning to start talking she decided to start some small talk. "Are you enjoying yourself on Dark Moon?"

"Yes."

At his simple answer she turned to glare at him for a moment before turning back to the tea. "I've been following the ratings of the show, it looks like you might just beat your father's record."

Ren let out a little sigh, "Yes, it is nice."

Miki smirked slightly, "You're proving that you truly are an actor in your own right. You've taken the character to a level your father never could have."

Ren smiled at that, "It's thanks to Ms. Mogami."

"Oh?"

Ren's head tilted down embarrassed. He hadn't meant to say that, but he'd let his guard down. He looked back up to meet her eyes. "She helped me find my Katsuki, and she took Mio to a whole new level."

"That she did," Miki smiled. "She's very talented like her father."

"I still find it hard to believe that he's her father."

Miki giggled as Ren took the tea tray and followed her into the living room. "Somehow it surprises me how much like our parents we become and yet can also be so different."

"Hm."

Miki looked closely at Ren as they sat down opposite each other in her living room. He sat at an angle at looked at the pictures on her wall, just as Kyoko had done not that long ago. Miki straighten up as she saw how he was looking at Kyoko's pictures. She let out a silent giggle as she realized exactly why he had really come to see her.

"I won't tell her you're Kuon," Miki declared.

Ren twisted about to look at her. Inside he was embarrassed, yet again, to have been caught staring at the photos. He let out a sigh as he caught the knowing smirk on Miki's face, it looked so much like Yashiro's. "Thank you." Ren reached down and brought the tea cup to his mouth and took a sip.

Miki took a sip from her cup before continuing, "You should be the one to tell her anyway. You can't be Ren Tsuruga forever you know. She'll be upset if she doesn't find out from you. … She loved hearing stories about how close the two of you were whenever you met as children."

"She can't know. Not until I'm ready."

"If you hurt her I will make you pay."

Ren stared at Miki who was smiling her own version of the gentlemanly smile of his that made most women melt. He nodded, he never wanted to hurt her, and if he did then he probably deserved whatever Miki would try to do.

**End – Chapter 9**

REVIEWS INSPIRE ME!!!

Wah! It's been awhile since I updated this hasn't it? I've got 5 other stories going on, one of which I'm determined to write very quickly so it's taken time away from my other stories. I hope you liked this! I was working on a different story when this somehow got stuck in my head and I had to write it. I wasn't even planning to write a Miki and Ren chapter. Next chapter should be what I planned for this chapter.


	10. Chapter 10

_Skip Beat!_ belongs to Hakusensha (Japan) and Viz (USA). No copyright infringement is intended. Fanfiction is, in my opinion, free advertisement. There are many things I've bought because I enjoyed fanfiction that crossed into a new fandom. I encourage everyone to purchase these products.

**Love Beat – Chapter 10**

Kyoko knocked on Miki's door. Hearing her aunt's muffled, "Who is it?" Kyoko identified herself and then opened the door as she heard, "Come in!"

Kyoko followed the soft clanging sounds as she entered the apartment to find her aunt in the kitchen cleaning out her tea pot.

"It's good that you came today. I've been meaning to talk to you, but you've been so busy planning that party for Maria that I've barely seen you."

Kyoko smiled, her aunt cheerful attitude was always something that Kyoko enjoyed. Even going back and watching the video clips of her family had her smiling. Her otosan and aunt both had ways to cheer her up, even through recordings. "What's up?"

"Come, let's sit in the dining room," Miki finished drying off the tea pot only to set it up again on the stove full of water so she and Kyoko could share a fresh drink soon.

Kyoko frowned as she followed Miki to the living room, sitting down where not even an hour ago Ren had been sitting. Miki's uncharacteristic seriousness raising concerns in Kyoko.

"You don't much about your father professionally do you?" Miki asked.

"No," Kyoko's forehead wrinkling slightly at the question. "He was a successful singer and actor, I don't know much else."

"Well when we were younger, not long before he first started acting, he started his own talent agency for singers. He called it Mikiomi."

"Hope?"

"Yes, he named it after me. Miki Mogami, Mikiomi. He meant it to mean 'Hopeful Outlook.' It was very well respected, he did a wonderful job setting it up and it flourished. When he died he left it in my care. Only… I didn't know how to run it. And Julia had also recently inherited Elite Modeling Agency. She'd been the favorite model of the founder, and he'd died without heirs and decided it should be hers. She hadn't known what to do and arranged for Lory to run it."

"You mean Mother and President?" Kyoko asked confused about where this was going.

"Mm hm. So I decided to ask Lory if he'd merge with Mikiomi too. At that time his agency was almost all acting. Mikiomi was located just next door to his agency, a lot of the people in both agency overlapped anyway. So he said yes. That's why the agency now is called LME. Lory, Mikiomi, and Elite. Don't know where the story that it's called Lory's Magnificent Emporium, or something like that anyway, came from."

"I don't understand," Kyoko stammered.

"Kyoko, when you turn 20, you'll own a third of LME. Julia and I've been content to let LME run however Lory wants it. I help out sometimes writing music, but… Not many people know that I officially 'own' the singing section, or that you'll inherit it. But if I'm going to come to the party… And people find out I'm your aunt… The people who do know will know that it's you that'll own part of LME in just a few short years."

"I… I'm going… to own LME?" Kyoko sat shocked staring at her aunt.

"Well the M in it anyway. That's part of why I'm so glad you joined LME, it would be very awkward later if you were in a different agency."

Kyoko and Miki both jumped at the sound of the whistle blowing in the kitchen announcing the water was hot enough to make tea. Miki smiled softly at the shell shocked look on Kyoko's face. "I'll go make the tea and then we can talk about this some more."

**End – Chapter 10**

REVIEWS INSPIRE ME!!!

I've been building up to this for awhile and I finally got to do it! I think it's possible that it could work this way in real life, I just don't know for sure, so let's pretend it can.

Mikiomi: promise, hope, outlook, view (from my Japanese dictionary).


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